Please click on the links below to download useful resources for the Collecting and Examining Life unit.
Web links and additional reading for each lesson cluster
Animals Lessons.pdf
Teacher Masters and Visuals
CEL Teacher_Masters
CEL Visuals
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Hatching Brine Shrimp Tips
When science experiments just don’t go as expected it can be very frustrating, but it is important to remember that we learn from our mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s normal. It’s part of the learning process. Science experiments can sometimes be difficult to conduct and can require more time than expected, but ultimately the work of a scientist is rewarding. Being able to identify and rectify the mistakes we made translates into added experience and knowledge and better experiments in the future. So, young researchers should not be too discouraged by hiccups that may occur at first. Instead, we should focus on learning from them.
Trouble Shooting Why Brine Shrimp Did Not Hatch:
In most cases table salt will not work as it often contains additives (e.g. iodine, fluoride) that impede the hatching of brine shrimp. Sea salt should be used at a rate of 1 – 2 teaspoons of salt per half a liter.
Water temperature is important. It should be around 77-81 Fahrenheit/25-27 Celsius. If it is too cold they will not hatch.
The addition of a small amount of Epsom salt can increase hatching, particularly if you have soft water.
After opening a fresh container with brine shrimp cysts you should use it up quickly. Put it in the freezer for later use to prevent them from going bad. Decapsulated cysts will not hatch.
A little bit of light during the hatching process (from a window or small light bulb) increases hatching success. This can also influence the temperature of the water.
Consider conducting multiple hatching set ups, staggering them a day or two apart.
Feed bbs on activated yeast. A single drop for a liter is about right. Feed them until they hatch. After they hatch brine shrimp consume their yolk sack. Some fish breeders do not feed bbs until six hours after hatching for this reason.
Kosher Alternative to Brine Shrimp
In case anyone needs a kosher alternative to brine shrimp, try whole grain teff. It actually looks pretty similar to the brine shrimp eggs, but is football-shaped rather than round. If you just put some in water, they start sprouting pretty fast. They are tiny and don’t move and all, but it will do a good job of accomplishing the same ideas as the brine shrimp but with a plant.
They can be found in bulk at Whole Foods, so it costs about $0.50 for more than enough for one class. And Amazon has bags like this http://www.bobsredmill.com/whole-grain-teff.html or other brands.